Yarn takeup



F. CONRAD YARN TAKEUP Nov. 28, 1967 5 Sheets-Sheet l Filed Oct. -1, 1964 RNN x K55@ www@ Nov. 28, 1967 P. CONRAD 3,355,116

YARN TAKEUP Filed Oct. '1, 1964 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 LO N P. CONRAD YARN TAKEUP Nov. 28, 1967 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed Oct.

Nov. 28, 1967 5 Sheets-Sheet 4 Filed Oct. l, 1964 Nov. 28, 1967 P. CONRAD 3,355,116

YARN TAKEUP Filed OCt. .1, 1964 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 F/GURE 9 l/v vE/vroR PETE CONRAD BY l United States Patent 3,355,116 YARN TAKEUP Peter Conrad, Charlotte, N.C., assgnor to Celanese Corporation, a corporation of Delaware Filed Oct. 1, 1964, Ser. No. 400,706 9 Claims. (Cl. 242-18) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A yarn take-up apparatus is provided having a rotatable support for a core on which yarn is wound. A traverse guide is provided for receiving yarn and guiding it back and forth to distribute the yarn across the core. A print roll receiving yarn from the traverse guide, and a mounting means movable vertically during winding in response to the build-up of yarn on said core is also provided. The rotatable support has a fixed axis. The mounting means supports the traverse guide and the print roll in a fixed relationship to one another. A means operated by fluid pressure is provided to counterbalance the weight of the movable support or carrier.

This invention relates to yarn takeups and particularly to yarn takeups for the winding of continuously produced man-made yarns.

In the production of man-made yarns at high speeds, such as the melt-spinning of thermoplastic filamentforming materials (for example, ordered polypropylene, polyethylene terephthalate, or nylon), it is important that the yarns be wound up with a minimum of variations in the winding conditions during the winding operation, since these variations often result in corresponding undesirable variations in the dyeing and other characteristics of the yarn. The variations in winding conditions may be the result, for example, of vibrations or unbalances of the winding elements or of cyclic changes yin yarn tension during the yarn traverse, and resulting bouncing of the package on which the yarn is being wound. With the trend toward the use of larger and heavier yarn packages, the attainment of these goals has become especially difficult. In addition, it is important that the winding mechanism occupy a relatively small space. The productive capacity per square foot of floor space of a melt-spinning zone is very great; if the winding mechanism required to handle that output occupies too large an area, less melt-spinning zones can be effectively installed in a plant of given iioor space, with the result that the capital costs for meltspinning are unduly increased.

It is therefore an object of this invention to provide a new takeup arrangement, particularly useful for winding of melt-spun yarns with little variation in winding conditions.

Another object of this invention is the provision of a novel takeup which can wind yarn at high rates of speed and which occupies a relatively small area.

Other objects of this invention will be apparent from the following detailed description and claims.

In the production of melt-spun yarns it is conventional to wind up the yarns by means of surface drive mechanisms in which the core, on which the yarn is being wound, is rotated by engagement with the surface of a drive roll driven at a constant speed, so that the linear windup speed remains constant during winding despite the increase in the sizeof the package of wound yarn. In accordance with one aspect of this invention, I employ a drive roll which also serves as a print roll on which the yarn is laid by the traverse guide and from which the yarn, in the traverse pattern, is carried to the core, the yarn being thus deposited or printed onto the core.

The core is mounted on a rotatable support whose axis is xed, while the traverse guide and the print roll are mounted on a carrier which, although it moves in response to the buildup of yarn on the core, keeps the traverse guide and print roll in fixed relationship. This constant relationship makes it possible to use very small and light traverse guides, thus facilitating high speed operation. The mounting of the core support on a lixed axis on the main frame of the machine permits the winding of very large packages without the diliiculties arising from the usual method in which the core is mounted at the end of a pivoted lever or swing arm.

In a preferred embodiment, the carrier for the traverse guide and print roll is mounted for sliding up and down movement and also carries individual motors for the operation yof the traverse guide and print roll. I nd that the large mass of the elements on the carrier acts to absorb vibrations and contributes to more uniform winding. In addition, this construction makes for very good alignment of the core and the drive roll, permitting very accurate winding at high speeds and reducing vibration and bouncing of the cores. The vertical correlated movement of the traverse guide and print roll also makes it possible to stagger the carriers and cores on the spinning machine in a manner which, while preserving the advantages of the novel construction, occupies a very small oor area, as will be seen from the detailed description given later below, and the accompanying drawing.

Another aspect of this invention relates to the use of fluid pressure to counterbalance the weight of the carrier. In a preferred embodiment upward fluid pressure is used to only partly counterbalance the weight of a lower carrier whose print roll is mounted above the core driven by that print roll, while such upward fluid pressure is used to more than counterbalance the weight of a second, upper, carrier whose print roll is mounted below a correspending second core.

In the drawing which illustrates a preferred form of the invention:

FIGURE l is an end view of a takeup machine;

FIGURE 2 is a side view of the machine;

FIGURE 3 is a top View of an upper takeup;

FIGURE 4 is a side view of said upper takeup;

FIGURE 5 is a side view, with parts in cross-section, of said upper takeup, taken at right angles to FIG. 4;

FIGURE 6 is a side view of a lower takeup;

FIGURE 7 is a top View of said lower takeup;

FIGURE 8 is a side view, with parts in cross-section, of said lower takenp, taken at right anglesto FIG. 6; and

FIGURE 9 is a side view of a further embodiment of the invention withparts in cross-section of said upper takeup taken at right angles to FIGURE 4, and showing diagrammatically a source of varying air supply.

Turning nowl to FIG. l of the drawing, reference numeral 1 designates generally a takeup machine to which a number ofends `of yarn are fed through cooling or Conditioning tubes 2 from a melt-spinning zone 3. Each yarn passes over. ay finish roll 4 (or 4a or 4b, FIG. 2) under a lower godet roll 6 (or 6a or 6b), over an upper godet roll 7 (or 7a or 7b) and then to a winding zone, indicated generally by reference numeral 8.

The melt-spinning zone is so'designed, in a manner well known to the art, that a number, e.g. sixteen, ends of yarn are produced in a single zone (preferably from a single spinnerette); each such end may be a multifilavment yarn or a monolament yarn. As shown in the or c). During their passage over the finish roll 4 (or 4a or 4b) the individual yarns are kept spaced from each other, by the use of suitable spacing guides 12, 13 mounted adjacent said finish roll. Another set of spacing guides 14 serves to shift by 90 the plane in which each set of yarns is situated to bring the yarns of said set, properly spaced, from the finish roll to the godet rolls, the axes of the latter rolls being at right angles to the axis of the finish roll as can be seen from FIG. 1.

The 4godet rolls are all positively driven, their surface speeds being greater than the speed at which the polymer melt is extruded from the spinnerette in the melt-spinning zone, as is well known in the art. The diameter of the upper godet 7 (or 7a or 7b) roll is slightly larger than that of the lower godet roll 6 (or 6a or 6b) so that, although their rotational speeds in revolutions per minute are the same, the peripheral velocity of the upper godet roll is slightly greater (eg. 0.2% greater) than that of the lower godet roll.

The yarn ends leaving the second godet roll 7 pass, as previously mentioned, to the winding zone, two of the yarn ends passing to the upper windup station shown generally as 9 (FIG. 1) and the other two passing to the lower windup station, shown generally as 10. In the embodiment shown in the drawing, at each station 9 and 10 there are provided two cores 25 (at the upper station), 26 (at the lower station), one for each end of yarn, the two cores at each station being arranged side by side on a single rotatable chuck 27 (or 28) and being driven by a single drive roll 31 (or 32, FIG. 2). The yarn ends are traversed along the length of their respective cores by traverse guides 33 (or 34), there being a pair of such guides for each pair of cores (as shown in FIGS. 3 and 7), both guides of each pair being mounted on a single traversing bar 37 (or 38) driven by a single traverse mechanism 41 (or 42). The guides 33, 34 may be of conventional construction in which there is an open yarnreceiving slot between ,parallel slot-defining wall elements (as seen in FIGS. 3 and 7).

FIGS. 3, 4 and 5 illustrate the details of the upper Windup mechanism 9. The core 25 which may be a tube or bobbin (empty, or containing yarn partially wound thereon), is removably mounted and engaged, in a manner well known to the art, on its chuck (not shown in these figures) which is rotatably supported on a removable subframe 44 of the fixed frame of the machine, so that during the winding operation the chuck and core 25 rotate together about a fixed axis 45.

The rotation of the core 25 is effected by surface contact of the yarn wound thereon with the drive roll 3l, which is rotatably mounted, with its electric drive motor 47, on a vertically movable support 49. This support also carries the traverse mechanism 41 and an electric motor 51 for driving (as through belt 53 and pulleys 55 and 57), said traverse mechanism. The traverse mechanism 41 is of a well-known type which by the action of an enclosed rotatable cam (not shown), driven by the motor 51, reciprocates the traversing bar 37, carrying the yarn guide 33 in a path parallel to the axes' of the drive roll and core. The movable support 49, which carries the drive roll and the traverse mechanism and associated traverse bar and guides, is mounted to move solely in a rectilinear vertical path, by suitable antifriction slide means, indicated generally as 59 (FIG. 4), which may be of well known type; as illustrated in the drawing the movable support 49 includes a vertical plate 61 forming the movable part of a ball slide of conventional construction, having two vertical stationary track portions 63 straddling said plate 61 and fixed to the stationary subframe 44 of the machine. The details of such ball slides are well known to the art and will therefore not be illustrated here. One typical ball slide comprises a movable part and two stationary track portions, one on each side of the movable part; at both its edges the movable part has pairs of hardened and ground circular rods facing identical pairs of such rods on the corresponding edges of the stationary track; a series of balls circulate in'th space at each edge between opposed pairs of rods, making tangential contact with all four rods, and recirculate in channels behind each pair of rods of the stationary track portions.

The movable support 49 is urged upwardly to press the drive roll 31 against the surface of the core 25 by tiuid pressure exerted against a cylinder 65 which is mounted on said movable support, being secured to the plate 61. Within the cylinder is a vertical rod 67 (FIG. 5) which is fixed at its lower portion 69 to an extension 71 of the fixed subframe 44.

Fluid under pressure, preferably air, is admitted through a port 73 of the cylinder 65 into a hermetically sealed variable zone 75 defined by the walls of the cylinder and by a flexible sealing diaphragm 77, the outer edges of which are fixed part-way up the walls of the cylinder circumferentially between the cylinder head portion 79 and the cylinder body 81, which are secured together, as by screws 83, in sealed relation. The center portion of the diaphragm 77 is sealedly fixed to a cylindrical enlargement 79 secured to the top of the vertical rod 67. The port 73 is connected to a source of uid, indicated generally as 91, which is preferably maintained at a constant pressure in any 'manner well known to the art, so that there is a constant upward force on the cylinder 65 and, therefore, on the drive roll 31.

In operation, freshly formed yarn (A, FIG. 2) passes continuously down from the second godet roll 7 to the reciprocating traverse guide 33 (which is mounted so that the vertical plane of the path of said yarn is approximately tangent to the surface of the drive roll 31.). From the traverse guide the yarn passes to the surface of the drive roll 31 (which rotates in the direction shown in FIG. 4) and moves with said roll, approximately 230, to the nip between said roll and the core 25 and is then wound on said core. The yarn on the drive roll 31 remains in the position, axially of said roll, in which it was placed by theV action of the traverse guide 33. l

During the winding operation, the core 25 is rotated by its surface contact with the drive roll 31 at a constant peripheral speed, substantially the same as that of the godet rolls, to wind yarn onto the core; as the diameter of the core therefore increases, the drive roll is thus pushed further from the `axis of the core. A-s a result the drive roll 31 and movable support 49 move downward but, as explained above, these elements are urged upwardly with aconstant force by the actionof the vfluid in the cylinder 65, which more than counterbalances `the weight of the movable support 49 and the elements mounted thereon. Accordingly, the pressure of the drive roll 31 against the yarn at the surface of the core 25 would, in the absence of other factors, be almost constant since its vertical cornponent will be constant and since there will not be a great change inthe angle between this ,vertical component and the direction in which the force is exerted.

The substantially vertical movement of the drive roll and traverse, correlated with substantially vertical travel of the yarn coming from the cabinet, makes for a minimum of variation in yarn path during the buildup of yarn on the core. y v

In a preferred embodiment of the invention, means are provided for varying the pressure between the surface of the drive roll and the surface of the core. This may be conveniently accomplished by the use of a weighted lever arm (FIG. 4) pivoted at one end 87 to the outside of the cylinder body 81 and having its free portion resting on a pin 89 extending horizontally from the extension 71 of the fixed frame of the machine. When the drive roll 31 is in its highest position, before an appreciable amount of yarn has been wound on the core 25, the movable support 49 and cylinder 65 are also in their highest positions, with the pivot 87 of the lever arm 85 so positioned that the arm is substantially horizontal with its midpoint resting on the pin 89. As the yarn builds up on the core 25, the pivot 87 of the lever arm 85 drops and the lever arm thus tilts, eventually to the position rshown in dotted lines in FIG. 4 so that the pivot carries a progressively larger portion of the weight of that arm since, as will be evident, the vertical component of the force exerted by the arm 85 on the pivot 87 is much greater in the position shown in dotted lines than when the arm is substantially horizontal, while the horizontal component of this force is resisted by the stationary portions 63 of the slide means. Thus the pressure between drive roll 31 and core 25 will decline gradually as the core increases in size during the winding of yarn thereon. Of course, the total upward force will depend on the fluid pressure in the sealed zone 75, which may be preset at any desired value.

In a preferred embodiment and as is shown in FIGURE 9 of the drawing air of higher and/ or lower pressure than the running pressure is provided. This is provided advantageously by providing a source of air 200 under a higher pressure than the desired running air pressure and connecting said source to cylinder port '73 as hereinafter more fully described. Air is conducted from 'source 200 by way of conduit 201 through various conduits 202, 203, and 204 to a three-way plug valve represented by reference numeral 205. An additional pressure between the drive rolls and the cores is provided at the very beginning of the winding of yarn on each core, when Stringing up. Such is eifected advantageously by providing a source of air 202 under a higher pressure than the source 203, and connecting source 202 to the cylinder port 73, while disconnecting sources 203 and 204 from said port 73 by a suitable multioriiiced valve represented diagrammatically by reference numeral 205, operable manually or controlled automatically by the size or position of the drive -roll in relation to the core. A third but lower pressure source of air 204, i.e. lower than running pressure 203 may be'similarly connected to the port 73 when it is desired to dotf the fully wound core. The air pressure from source'200 can be regulated as desired by conventional pressure reducing valves represented by reference numerals 206, 207, and 208. l The construction of the lower windup mechanism shown in FIGS. 6, 7 and 8 is similar to that of the upper mechanism. Thus the lower core 26 is mounted on a lower chuck 28 rotatably supported on a portion 100 of a subframe 127, while the lower drive roll 32, the lower drive roll motor 102, the lower traverse mechanism 42 (of the same type as the traverse mechanism 41) and the lower traverse motor 104 are all mounted in iixed relation- `ship to each other on a movable support 106 which is mounted for movement in a vertical plane and which is urged downwardly by gravity, partly counterbalanced by an arrangement to be described below. The downwardly moving yarn ends (B, FIG. 2) from the second godet roll pass through the traverse guides 34 (mounted o'n the 4reciprocating traversing bar 38 actuated by the lower ytraverse mechanism 42) and, as with the yarn on the upper windup, each yarn end is printed on the lower drive roll 32, which rotates in the direction shown by the arrow. The yarn is carried on the surface of said drive roll 32 to the nip between the surface of the lower core 26 and the surface of said drive roll and then is wound onto the core 26 which is surface driven by said drive roll. As the diameter of the core 26 increases, due to the buildup of yarn wound'thereon, the drive roll 32 is pushed further from the axis of the core 26 and, as a result, the drive roll 32 and the lower movable support 106 move upward. A fluid pressure arrangement is employed to partly counterbalance the weight of the movable support 106 and the elements it supports. More specifically, the lower part of the movable support 106 includes integral therewith a lateral extension in the form of a cylinder head 108 (FIG. 8) having a port 110 for the admission of l'luid under pressure and containinga exible diaphragm 112 which, like diaphragm 77 previously discussed, forms a hermeticaly sealed zone 114. The center portion 116 of the diaphragm 112 is sealedly fixed to a cylindrical enlargement 118 secured, as by a screw 120, to the top of a vertical rod 122 supported at its lower end 124 on a base 126 secure-d to a removable subframe 127 of the fixed frame of the machine. The outer edges of the diaphragm 112 are sealedly fixed between the bottom of the cylinder head 108 and a ring 128 secured to a iiange 130 of said cylinder head by screws 132. The port is connected to a source of fluid, indicated generally as 134 which is preferab'y maintained at a constant pressure, in any manner well known to the art, so that there is a constant upward force partly counterbalancing the weight associated with the movable support 106.

A splined hollow cylinder 138 (FIG. 8) is mounted in axial alignment with the cylinder head 108 and in fixed relation thereto, with its upper portion being secured as by welding, to the inner portion of the ring 128. This splined cylinder serves as the moving part of a recirculating bail slide, of conventionel construction for constraining the lower movable support 106, and the elements carried thereby, to move in a vertical path, as explained below. It also serves to house a portion of the sealed zone 114 formed by the flexible diaphragm 112 as the lower movable support 106 and cylinder head 108 move upward when the yarn builds up on the core 26.

The splined cylinder 138 is held, for vertical movement, in a xed stationary race 140 (FIG. 6) carrier on a subframe 127. As stated, the bal spline is of known conventional design, in which recirculating ball bearings (not shown) move in the passages formed between circumferentially spaced vertical grooves on the outer surface of splined cylinder 138 and the inner surface of lstationary race 140, there being passages in said race for the recirculation of said balls. It will be understood that other conventional anti-friction slides may be substituted or interchanged wit-h the slides 138, 140 or 61, 63.

A housing 144 formed on the subframe 127 serves to party enclose andprotect the stationary race 140, the base of the Vertical rod 122 and the splined cylinder 138.

The pressure between the surface of the drive roll 32 and the surface of the core 26 is varied by a device similar, in principle, to the device used for the upper windup mechanism. One or more weighted lever arms (two such ar-ms 148 are shown in FIG. 6) are disposed within the housing 144 and pivoted at one end 150 to the subframe -127 with the fr ee portions of the arms resting on pins 152 (FIG- 8) extending horizontally from the lower portion of the splined cylinder 138. When the drive roll 32 is in its lowest position, before an appreciable amount of yarn has been wound on the core 26, the movabe support 106 and splined cylinder 138 are also in their lowest positions, with the pins 152 of the splined cylinder so positioned that the lever arms 148 they support are substantially horizontal with the midpoints of these lever varms resting on the pins. As the yarn builds up on the core 26, the pins 152 rise and the lever arms 148 tilt eventually to the raised position shown in dotted lines inFIG. 8 so4 that the pins carry a progressively smaller |portion of the weight of said arms since, as will be evident, the verticalcomponent of the force exerted by t-he arms 148 on the pins 152 is much smaller in the position shown in dotted lines than when the arms are substantially horizontal, while the horizontal component of this force is taken up by the stationary race 140. Thus, the pressure between drive roll 32 and core 26 will decline gradually as t-he Icore increases inl size during the winding of yarn thereon, Of course, the total downward force will depend on the degree to which the weight of the lower movablesupport 106 and its associated elements is initially counterbalanced by the uid pressure in the sealed zone 114, which may be preset at any desired `value..-

It is also within the broad scope of this invention to provide means for varying the uid pressures suplied to the cylinders so as to vary the pressure between drive roll and core as the winding proceeds, as discussed above in connection with the upper takeup mechanism.

The upper and lower drive roll motors 47 and 102 are mounted coaxialy with their respective drive rolls 31 and 32 with the main body of each motor enclosed within the drive roll, as illustrated in FIGS. 3 and 7.

All the other upper takeups 9a, 9b and 9c are of the same construction as takeup 9; similarly all the other lower takeups 10a, 10b and 10c are identical with takeup 10. As shown in FIG. 2, the lower takeup 10 is situated beow the upper takeup 9b which receives yarn from a diierent set of godet rolls 6b, 7b` The arrangement is similar on the opposite side of the takeup machine, which side carries upper takeups 9a and 9c and lower takeups 10a and 10c (shown in dotted lines in FIG. 2) with takeup 9a being located over takeup 10c. In order to avoid unnecessary redundancy, only four takeups on each side of the machine are shown in the drawing. However, it will be understood that in a commercial plant there are, on each side of the machine, a whole series of takeups arranged next to each other in the same manner as illustrated in the drawing so that (except, of course, at one end of the machine) each upper takeup, receiving yarn from one godet roll, will be located above the lower takeup that receives yarn from an adjacent godet roll, etc. Also, in a commercial plant a series of takeup machines 1 are located in parallel rows, with aisles between said rows. From these aisles the machine operators have ready acess to the traverse mechanisms and chunks to perform the necessary dofng, donning and string-up operations.

As will be seen from FIG. 2, the traverse guides for the yarns from a given set of godet rolls are located relatively close together. These guides are preferably so arranged that in travelling from the godet rolls their respective yarns A and B follow paths which (when viewed in a plane, like that of FIG. 2, transverse to the axes of the godet rolls) are displaced from the vertical by only a small angle (e.g. about This angle changes only slightly during the vertical movements of the carriers. With this arrangement it ispossible to use light traverse guides having relatively shallow yarn-receiving slots. Also, the slight change in the yarn angle helps to avoid excessive wear at one spot in the traverse guide.

The subframes 44 and 127 are adapted to be removed easily from the main fixed frame of the takeup machine 1. The subframe 44 may be attached by a few bolts, passing through holes 154 (FIG. 4) to a projection or bracket (not shown) of said main fixed frame; the subframe 127 may be similarly attached to said main frame. The takeup units may be preassembled and prealigned on these subframes, in a shop, and the preassembly may be attached, without need for further alignment, to the main frame. This, of course, facilitates repair or replacement of units without aecting the operation of adjacent units.

The use of ball slides or splines and the mounting of each takeup unit on a single subframe makes possible very close alignment of the chucks (and cores carried thereby) and the drive rolls, which alignment is maintained throughout the full stroke of the drive roll carriers. This minimizes the scuing and thrust on the core, and the revsulting damage to the yarn being wound, which result from misalignment of chuck and drive rolls and which occur frequently in the conventional constructions, particularly those in which the chucks are mounted at the ends of swing arms.

As mentioned earlier, in the embodiment illustrated in the drawing two cores are mounted side by side on each chuck 27, 28 (see FIG. 1). The spacing guide 14 has pins or other spacing members so positioned as to bring each yarn onto the lower godet roll 6 (or 6a or 6b) at a point lying in a vertical plane perpendicular to the axis of the core on which the yarn is to be wound, which plane intersects the core midway between the ends of the core. Each yarn continues substantially in this plane during its passage to and around the upper godet roll, so that iis traverse path after leaving the upper godet roll is substantially symmetrical about this central transverse plane; this is illustrated by the paths of the two yarns designated as C and D at the right side of FIG. 1.

It is to be understood that the foregoing detailed description is given merely by way of illustration, and that variations may be made therein without departing from the spirit of this invention.

What is claimed is:

1. A yarn takeup comprising a rotatable support for a core on which yarn is wound, a frame mounting said rotatable support with the axis of said support in a fixed position during the winding operation, a godet roll for delivering yarn continuously, a traverse guide for receiving yarn from said godet roll and guiding said yarn back and forth to distribute the yarn across said core, the construction and arrangement being such that the path of the yarn from said godet roll to said traverse guide is substantially vertical, a print roll for receiving yarn from said traverse guide, said print roll transporting said yarn to said core and driving said core, a carrier, guided for rectilinear movement in a substantially vertical direction, for supporting said traverse guide and said print roll in fixed relation to each other, motor means on said carrier for driving said print roll and said traverse guide, means for supplying a fluid under pressure, means for transmitting to said carrier the force exerted by said fluid, the latter means transmitting said force to said carrier in an upward direction opposing the downward gravitational force on said carrier, the construction and arrangement being such that the resultant of the forces on said carrier is a force urging said carrier in a direction to press said print roll against said core.

2. A yarn spinning and takeup machine comprising an extrusion zone for supplying a pair of yarns; godet roll means for drawing said yarns from said extrusion zone, and godet roll means including a last godet roll for delivering said yarns continuously and in spaced condition; a pair of rotatable supports for cores on which said yarns are wound; frame means mounting said last godet roll and said rotatable core supports in fixed positions during the winding operation with one of said cores .in a higher position than the other; an upper traversing and driving means for the upper core and a lower traversing and driving means for the lower core; each of said traversing and driving means including: a traverse guide for receiving a yarn from said last godet roll and guiding said yarn back and forth to distribute the yarn across its respective core, the construction and arrangement being such that the path of the yarn from said last godet roll to said traverse guide is substantially vertical, a print roll for receiving said yarn lfrom said traverse guide, said print roll transporting said yarn to its respective core and driving said core, and a carrier, guided for rectilinear movement in a substantially vertical direction, for supporting said traverse guide and said print roll in fixed relation to each other; the upper traversing and driving means being mounted with its print roll below said upper core, and the lower traversing and driving means mounted with its print roll above said lower core.

3. A yarn spinning and takeup machine as set forth in claim 2 in which there are identical takeup stations arranged side by side, each such station comprising godet roll means, pairs of cores, and upper and lower traversing and driving means, all as set forth in claim 6, the upper core of one station and its upper print roll being located over the lower core and its respective print roll of an adjacent station, the pairs of yarns for said adjacent station passing between the upper cores of said stations.

4 A yarn spinning and takeup machine comprising an extrusion zone for supplying a pair of yarns; godet roll means for drawing said yarns from said extrusion zone,

said godet roll means including a last godet roll for delivering said yarns continuously and in spaced condition; a pair of rotatable supports for cores-on which said yarns are wound; frame means mounting said last godet roll and said rotatable core -supports in fixed positions during the winding operation with one of said cores in a higher position than the other; an upper traversing and ldriving means for the upper core and a lower traversing and driving means for the lower core; each of said traversing and driving means including: a traverse guide for receiving from said last godet roll and guiding said yarn back and forth to distribute the yarn across its respective core, the construction and arrangement being such that the path of the yarn from said last godet roll to said traverse guide is substantially vertical, a print roll for receiving a yarn from said last godet roll and guiding said yarn back and forth to distribute the yarn across its mounting means, guided for rectilinear movement in a vertical direction, for supporting said traverse guide and print roll in iixed relation to each other, electric motor means n said mounting means for driving said print roll and said traverse guide, means for supplying a iluid under pressure, means for transmitting to said mounting means the force exerted by said fluid, the latter means transmitting said force to said mounting means in an upward direction opposing the downward gravitational force on said mounting means, the construction and arrangement being such that the resultant of the forces on said mounting means is a force urging said mounting means in a direction to press said print roll against said core; said resultant pressing forces on said mounting means for said upper and lower traversing and driving means being exerted upwards and downwards respectively; the upper traversing and driving means being mounted with its print roll below said upper core, and the lower traversing and driving means being mounted with its print roll above said lower core.

5. In a yarn takeup a rotatable support for a core on which yarn is wound, a drive roll pressed against said core, means for supplying a fluid under pressure, means for transmitting to the nip between said drive roll and said core the force exerted by said iluid, said transmitting means moving in response t0 the buildup of yarn on said core and comprising a movable member which moves with respect to a fixed member, means for varying the force at said nip during said buildup, comprising a weighted lever partially counterbalancing said pressure, said lever being pivoted to one of said members and having an intermediate portion resting on the other of said members, the construction and arrangement being such that during the relative movement of said members the proportion of the weight of the lever carried by each member varies due to the pivoting of the lever in response to such relative movement and the degree to which said pressure is counterbalanced varies accordingly.

6. A yarn take-up comprising a rotatable support for a core on which yarn is Wound, said support having a xed axis, a traverse guide for receiving yarn and guiding it back and forth to distribute the yarn across said core, a print roll receiving yarn from said traverse guide, said print roll transporting said yarn to said core and driving said core, and mounting means movable vertically during winding in response to the build up of yarn on said core for supporting said traverse guide and said print roll in fixed relationship to each other, means for supplying a fluid under pressure, means for transmitting to said mounting means a force exerted by said iluid, the latter means transmitting said force to said mounting means in an upward direction opposing the downward gravitational force on said mounting means, the construction and arrangement being such that the resultant of the forces on said mounting means is a force urging said mounting means in a direction to press said print roll against said core, said take-up further comprising a xed member and a member movable with said mounting means and means for varying said resultant force during said build up by varying the gravitational force on the mounting means which comprises a weighted lever pivoted to one of said members and having an intermediate portion resting on the other said member, the construction and arrangement being such that during the relative movement of said members the proportion of the weight of the lever carried by each member varies due to the tilting of the lever in response to such relative movement and the degree to which said pressure is counterbalanced varies accordingly.

7. Yarn take-up. according to claim 1 wherein the means for supplying fluid pressure includes means for supplying fluid of different pressures.

8. Yarn take-up according to claim 7 wherein the means for supplying uid under pressure includes a means for supplying fluid of a relatively higher pressure in the beginning of the winding of yarn on each core.

9. Yarn takeup acc-Ording to claim 8 wherein the means for supplying fluid under pressure includes a means for supplying huid of a relatively lower pressure when it is desired to do the fully wound core.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,778,578 1/1957 Keith 242--18 2,869,796 1/1959 Kong 242-355 3,036,784 5/ 1962 Schippers et al. 242-355 3,042,324 7/ 1962 Kinney 242-18 3,092,339 6/1963 Hill et al 242-18 FOREIGN PATENTS 335,982 3/ 1959 Switzerland.

STANLEY N. GILREATH, Primary Examiner.

UNITED STATES PATENT oFFIcE CERTIFICATE OF CORRECTION Patent No. 3,355,116 November 28, 1967 Peter Conrad It is hereby certified that error appears in the above numbered patent requiring correction and that the said Letters Patent. should read as corrected below.

Column 6, line 2l, for "conventionel" read conventional line Z9, for "carrier" read carried column 7, line 2, for "suplied" read supplied line 32, for "acess" read access same line 32 for "chunks" read chuck column 8, line 40, for "and" read said column 9, line ll, after "receiving" insert a yarn lines 16 and 17, for "a yarn from said last godet roll and guiding said yarn back and forth to distribute the yarn across its" read said yarn from said traverse guide, said print roll transporting said yarn to its respective core, and

Signed and sealed this 14th day of January 1969.

(SEAL) Attest:

EDWARD M.FLETCHER,JR EDWARD J. BRENNER Attestng Officer Commissioner of Patents 

1. A YARN TAKEUP COMPRISING A ROTATABLE SUPPORT FOR A CORE ON WHICH YARN IS WOUND, A FRAME MOUNTING SAID ROTATABLE SUPPORT WITH THE AXIS OF SAID SUPPORT IN A FIXED POSITION DURING THE WINDING OPERATION, A GODET ROLL FOR DELIVERING YARN CONTINUOUSLY, A TRAVERSE GUIDE FOR RECEIVING YARN FROM SAID GODET ROLL AND GUIDING SAID YARN BACK AND FORTH TO DISTRIBUTE THE YARN ACROSS SAID CORE, THE CONSTRUCTION AND ARRANGEMENT BEING SUCH THAT THE PATH OF THE YARN FROM SAID GODET ROLL TO SAID TRAVERSE GUIDE IS SUBSTANTIALLY VERTICAL, A PRINT ROLL FOR RECEIVING YARN FROM SAID TRAVERSE GUIDE, SAID PRINT ROLL TRANSPORTING SAID YARN TO SAID CORE AND DRIVING SAID CORE, A CARRIER, GUIDED FOR RECTILINEAR MOVEMENT IN A SUBSTANTIALLY VERTICAL DIRECTION, FOR SUPPORTING SAID TRAVERSE GUIDE AND SAID PRINT TOLL INM FIXED RELATION TO EACH OTHER, MOTOR MEANS ON SAID CARRIER FOR DRIVING SAID PRINT ROLL AND SAID TRAVERSE GUIDE, MEANS FOR SUPPLYING A FLUID UNDER PRESSURE, MEANS FOR TRANSMITTING TO SAID CARRIER THE FORCE EXERTED BY SAID FLUID, THE LATTER MEANS TRANSMITTING SAID FORCE TO SAID CARRIER IN AN UPWARD DIRECTION OPPOSING THE DOWNWARD GRAVITATIONAL FORCE ON SAID CARRIER, THE CONSTRUCTION AND ARRANGEMENT BEING SUCH THAT THE RESULTANT OF THE FORCES ON SAID CARRIER IS A FORCE URGING SAID CARRIER IN A DIRECTION TO PRESS SAID PRINT ROLL AGAINST SAID CORE. 